Helicopter crash kills 3 who were picking up heart for transplant; patient must await new one

The Washington Post

MIAMI — Three people were killed when a helicopter on its way to retrieve a heart for transplant crashed in northern Florida, leaving the patient to wait for another organ to become available.

No flight plan was filed for the helicopter, which was headed to Shands hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville when it crashed early Monday morning, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

The helicopter was carrying heart surgeon Dr. Luis Bonilla and procurement technician David Hines of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. The name of the pilot has not been released.

Mayo Clinic spokesman Layne Smith said the patient who had been scheduled to receive the heart is back on the waiting list for a new organ.

Kathy Giery, a spokeswoman for Shands’ LifeQuest Organ Recovery Service, said Tuesday that the heart was not recovered from the donor. It was too far along in the process of lining up organ recipients and surgical teams to get the heart to another patient, Giery said.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/helicopter-crash-kills-3-who-were-picking-up-heart-for-transplant-patient-must-await-new-one/2011/12/27/gIQAf9A2JP_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop

OUR HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY, COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS OF DR. LUIS BONILLA AND DAVID HINES.